When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! They took Dagon and put him back in his place. But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained. – 1 Samuel 5: 3-4
When they walked into their temple and saw their god Dagon toppled over the first time, the Philistine priests wrote it off to chance. But imagine their horror the following day when they entered the temple again and saw their god not only toppled over before the Ark of God, but with a severed hands and head! When man refuses to honor and glorify God – He will glorify Himself!
O, had the Philistines only submitted to the Lord then and there instead of playing Hot Potato with the Ark! And they very well could’ve, you know. Had they repented and worshipped God, the Ark might have gone from being a curse for them to being a blessing. But no… they probably glued the head and hands back on and set it up again in its usual place. After all – it’s much easier to put a statue back together than it is to change hearts and minds. These Philistine priests, like men and women confronted with the truth today, rejected God despite the evidence, not because of the lack of it.
Now this may have happened a long time ago in a place far away, but there’s definitely a lesson here for us as today: When we refuse to listen to God the first time, He will speak to us a second time.
And we may not like it.
Former Blackout Artist 